Thomas MacDonagh

MacDonagh was assistant headmaster at St. Enda's School, Scoil Éanna, and lecturer in English at University College Dublin. He was a member of the Gaelic League, where he befriended Patrick Pearse and Eoin MacNeill. He wrote poetry and plays. His play, When the Dawn is Come, was produced by the Abbey Theatre in 1908. Other plays include Metempsychosis, 1912 and Pagans, 1915, both produced by the Irish Theatre Company.

• Name — Thomas MacDonagh • Born — 1 February 1878 • Birthplace — Cloughjordan, County Tipperary, Ireland • Died — 3 May 1916 • Place of death — Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, Ireland • Death Cause — Execution by firing squad • Allegiance — Irish Republic • Branch — Irish Volunteers • Service Years — 1913–1916 • Rank — Commandant • Commands — * Director of Training, Irish Volunteers • Commander, Dublin Brigade, Irish Volunteers • Commander, 2nd Battalion, Dublin Brigade • Battles — Easter Rising • Spouse — Muriel Gifford • Children — * Barbara MacDonagh • Donagh MacDonagh • Memorials — Kilkenny MacDonagh railway station

He was born Cloughjordan, County Tipperary, to Joseph McDonagh, a schoolmaster, and Mary Parker. He grew up in a household filled with music, poetry and learning and was instilled with a love of both English and Irish culture from a young age. His brothers included future Sinn Féin politician, Joseph, and film director John. Both his parents were teachers; who strongly emphasised education. MacDonagh attended Rockwell College. While there MacDonagh spent several years as a scholastic, sometimes a preparation for a missionary career, however, after a few years he realised that it wasn't the life for him, and left. Very soon after, he published his first book of poems, Through the Ivory Gate, in 1902. He taught in St Kieran's College in Kilkenny and from 1903 he was employed as a professor of French, English and Latin at St. Colman's College, Fermoy, County Cork, where he also formed a branch of the Gaelic League. While in Fermoy, MacDonagh was one of the founding members of ASTI, the secondary teachers trade union which was formed in the Fermoy College in 1908. He moved to Dublin, soon establishing strong friendships with such men as Eoin MacNeill and Patrick Pearse.

MacDonagh joined the Irish Volunteers in December 1913, was elected to its Provisional Committee, and served on both the Central Executive and the General Council. In December 1914, he was appointed to the headquarters staff as Director of Training. In March 1915, he was appointed Commandant of the 2nd Battalion, and later was also appointed Commandant of the Dublin Brigade. Although originally a pure constitutionalist, through his dealings with men such as Pearse, Plunkett, and Seán Mac Diarmada, and through the increasing militarisation of Europe in the onset of World War I, MacDonagh developed stronger republican beliefs, joining the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), probably during the summer of 1915. Around this time Tom Clarke asked him to plan the grandiose funeral of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, which was a resounding propaganda success, largely due to the graveside oration delivered by Pearse.

• Illustration — Thomas MacDonagh in military uniform (1915) Though credited as one of the Easter Rising's seven leaders, MacDonagh was a late addition to that group. He didn't join the secret Military Council that planned the rising until April 1916, weeks before the rising took place. The reason for his admittance at such a late date is uncertain. Still a relative newcomer to the IRB, men such as Clarke may have been hesitant to elevate him to such a high position too soon, which raises the question as to why he should be admitted at all. His close ties to Pearse and Plunkett may have been the cause, as well as his position as commandant of the Dublin Brigade (though his position as such would later be superseded by James Connolly as commandant-general of the Dublin division). Nevertheless, MacDonagh was a signatory of the Proclamation of the Republic. During the rising, MacDonagh's battalion was stationed at the massive complex of Jacob's Biscuit Factory. On the way to this destination the battalion encountered the veteran Fenian, John MacBride, who on the spot joined the battalion as second-in-command, and in fact took over part of the command throughout Easter Week, although he had had no prior knowledge and was in the area by accident. As it was, despite MacDonagh's rank and the fact that he commanded one of the strongest battalions, they saw little fighting, as the British Army avoided the factory as they established positions in central Dublin. MacDonagh received the order to surrender on 30 April, though his entire battalion was fully prepared to continue the engagement. Following the surrender, MacDonagh was court martialled, and executed by firing squad on 3 May 1916, aged thirty-eight. He was the 3rd signatory of the Proclamation to be shot. It is said that as he was taken from his cell to be executed he whistled. His widow, Muriel, died of heart failure while swimming in Skerries, County Dublin on 9 July 1917; his son Donagh MacDonagh became a judge, and was also a prominent poet, Broadway playwright, songwriter and broadcaster, a central member of the Irish literary revival of the 1940s/1960s. He married Nuala Smyth and they had four children. His daughter Barbara married the actor Liam Redmond and they had four children. During the 1950s and 1960s, she wrote many scripts for Radio Éireann, the Irish national radio broadcaster, using her husband's more famous name.

His works include: • Through the Ivory Gate • April and May • When the Dawn is Come • Songs of Myself • Lyrical Poems • "The Golden Joy" • "The Stars Stand Up in the Air" • Thomas Campion and the Art of English Poetry • Literature in Ireland (published posthumously)